The world blurred
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: After their parents' divorce, Alex and Max grew up with their mother, separated from their older brother Justin. Can a summer Justin spends with them change Alex's life forever? *Jalex* AU but in-character.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show named WOWP that made me ship Dalena and then broke my heart.**

**Prologue**

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Alex Russo tiptoed down the stairs, taking careful steps to avoid making any noise. She slowly reached the living room, and just as she was about to get out of it-

"Alex! Where do you think you are going?" her mother demanded, walking up and standing behind her, arms crossed in front of her to emphasize her annoyance.

Alex muttered a curse under her breath. Her mother finding her sneaking out wasn't part of her plan! Taking a deep breath, and smiling sheepishly, she turned around to face her mother, "Hey…mom…. I was just going outside to see how lovely the weather is…."

Her mother simply glared at her. "I saw your report card."

"Which one? Wizard or mortal?" Alex asked immediately.

"Does it even matter? They are both equally horrible." Her mother frowned, and then sighed.

"On my defense, I and Max don't have a wizard teacher like Justin does, we study on our own." Alex said defiantly, hoping her mother would buy that.

"You're right." Her mother said, and she was about to jump up in victory when-"and that's why I've decided to get you a tutor."

"Tutor?" Alex asked, stepping back. "Mom. You can't make me study during summer!"

"Looking at your grades honey, I think I can." Theresa shot back, smiling mockingly.

"What about Max? Why aren't you getting him a tutor? This is totally unfair." She protested, stomping her feet on the ground.

Her mother glared at her. "I have asked Justin to stay with us during summer and tutor you." She announced.

"WHAT!" Alex shrieked, jumping back in surprise. "You asked JUSTIN to come HERE? And you asked HIM to tutor ME? You can't do that mom! We haven't even talked properly every since you and dad divorced. I can't just stay with him!"

"Oh, you will get used to it." Her mother shot back. "Now call up Justin and ask when he's coming here."

"I'm not calling Justin." Alex said with a tone of finality.

Theresa glared at her again.

"Fine!" Alex yelled, storming up the stairs to her room and slamming the door shut- a not-so-silent way to let her mother know that this wasn't going to be easy.

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Grabbing her cell phone and lying down on her bed, she scrolled through her contacts to find Justin's number. She didn't even understand why she had to store his number in her cell phone. It wasn't like they had a brother-sister bond- they didn't have any kind of bond at all. **They met only once a year, during their seven-day long family vacation. During that time, he either interacted with his mother, or locked himself in his room and read fat, boring books. She had tried talking to him once or twice, but it had ended in a horrible quarrel. She maintained a distance with him after that, and didn't talk to him unless it was absolutely necessary. **He was just her nominal brother- in reality, he was just a stranger. The last memory she had of him was when she was three and he was five. Their parents had divorced and her mother was moving to another state with her and Max. The image of Justin crying bitterly still appeared in her mind sometimes, but she quickly brushed that thought away. Why should she care about a stranger?

Sighing in frustration, she dialed his number and pressed her cell phone lightly to her left ear. A gibberish noise echoed in her ears and she winced in annoyance. "Alien language league rocks!" a voice said, before the gibberish noise restarted. Alex's eyes widened in surprise. So, _that_ was his caller tune? Could he be more of a geek?

She finally understood that he wouldn't answer her call, and hung up. If he didn't want to talk to her, she wasn't going to call him up again. Not that she called him up willingly the first time.

Alex closed her eyes tightly and tried to remember their childhood. **Memories fade so easily, so quickly! How can the moments that are so cherished just vanish from people's minds?** She couldn't remember anything about her days with Justin, no matter how hard she tried. She remembered calling him up and talking to him for the first few years, but after that, they just drifted apart. If anyone asked her about her older brother, she wouldn't be able to say anything at all, besides the things that her mother told her, that is.

Yet, when she saw her mother's old photo album, she could see how close they were when they were kids. She still couldn't figure out how they went from being best-friends to complete strangers.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the ringing of her phone. Noticing Justin's number, she snorted in annoyance before answering the call.

"Why didn't you answer my call?" she demanded, skipping all introductions. _If he was going to be rude to her, he better have a good reason for that._

"Sorry, my phone was on vibrate, and I was studying, I didn't notice…" he apologized quickly.

Alex's heart skipped a beat. She had heard him talk before, during their joint family vacations, but they had never talked to each other- they preferred using hand gestures when they needed something. She had never noticed how his voice sounded so manly, so grown-up.

"So…. Why did you call me again?" he asked, breaking her out of her trance.

"Oh, right. Mom wants to know when you are coming here." She said, her tone sounding more irritated than she intended it to.

"I'd be there on Monday morning." Justin announced.

Alex gasped. _Why did he have to come so soon? Couldn't he just give her a few more days-weeks-months of freedom?_

"You do know I'd be tutoring you, right?" he inquired.

"And you do know that I would be scheming and getting out of your tutoring, right?" she shot back. _True, they never talked. But she was snarky to everyone else- why shouldn't she be snarky to him?_

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again." He said calmly.

"Oh you shouldn't be." She snapped. _There was no reason why she shouldn't be honest to him!  
_

"I'd be tutoring you on science, math, history and magic." Justin announced smugly, changing the topic. "Keep your books ready for me."

Alex scoffed. "Since when did you learn to talk to me for this long?"

"Well, I figured a basic introduction was necessary, since we'd be spending a whole month together."

Alex finally let out a groan. Spending a whole month with him! This was her worst nightmare. And now she had to spend her weekend thinking of ways to get rid of him. Boo.

"Umm…I got to get back to studying, so…." He said awkwardly.

"Yeah, bye." Alex said quickly, hanging up the call.

He was such a study-freak! Was he going to make her study like that?

Alex chuckled. Making her study wasn't _that_ easy. People had been trying and failing for so many years.

Taking in a deep breath, Alex closed her eyes, the prank-plots already forming in her mind...

(And now when she thinks about it, she finally has the perfect word to describe their first phone conversation: awkward)

**(A/N: that's the prologue. I have the rest planned out, but not written down yet. Based on YOUR feedback I will proceed with this story in July. So please leave a review and let me know if I could get your interest. BTW, sorry to all the people who have me on alerts! I must have cluttered up your inbox. Sorry, guys! But since my results come out tomorrow, I'd be offline for sometime, so I figured I should update.)**


	2. Ch 1: The first meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP or the characters. I'm thinking of buying a new pair of shoes. Yeah, random :P

**Chapter 1: The first meeting **

**

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**

_Dear you,_

_The first day we met must have been so sweet… _

_It must have been some rainy day when you came into my life, rattling and shaking my existence to the core, striking at my door like the wild wind, letting me know that you would sweep away everything I have got… _

_Or maybe the sun was smiling brightly that day, the birds singing a sweet welcome tune, the flowers dancing their heads in the soft breeze…_

_But the sweetest flower of them all must have been me. I must have been decked in bright petals, painted in your favorite tint…. I must have been a sweet red rose, blushing at the sight of you…_

_You, my knight, must have come dressed in your armor, galloping bravely on your horse. I must have fallen in love with you at first sight, completely won over by your smile…_

**-12. 07.**

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As the clock ticked and the hour for Justin's arrival approved, Alex grew restless. The last time she met Justin, he had acted like she didn't even exist, and she had acted like she wasn't bothered by this. But when he talked to Max during dinner, narrating stories from the books he read, and Max listened intently, even though he understood nothing, there was a sharp pain in her chest. When she came home and the home phone rang the next day, she saw his caller ID and had this sudden urge to take the call, to talk to him, to ask him why he was treating her this way, to plead him to be her brother again. But she buried these feelings deep inside her chest and let the phone ring, ring, ring….

And now, she would be seeing him again. She had tried to think of different ways to get rid of him, but all those ways turned out to be way too dangerous, bordering on fatal. Let's face it- as much as she hated Justin, she didn't want to take his life.

Alex glared at the open window of her living room, as the moon's soft light entered the room. Couldn't it be such a windy day that little Justin would have been scared and stayed at his room under his bed?

_Take the devil's name, and the devil arrives. _

The doorbell rang at that moment, signaling Justin's arrival. Alex groaned, getting up from the couch as her mother opened the door and attacked him with a hug. Alex rolled her eyes, standing beside Max. When her mother let go of Justin, she took a proper look at him and her eyes grew wide.

Was he wearing a white pant with a pink shirt? And were those thick rimmed Harry Potter style black spectacles? And was his hair really cut so short and gelled so neatly? _Yeah, now she knew why her brother never had a girlfriend…_

"Huh, all that this look needs is a pair of braces, and he can become Clerk Kent." Alex whispered to Max and chuckled at her thought.

Max grinned and stepped up to greet Justin next. "Hi Justin."

"Hey Max." Justin greeted, shaking his hand.

_Really? Brothers shaking hands when they meet each other after a year? No man-hug? _

And when he turned towards her and smiled, her eyes grew wide again. Was she supposed to talk to this… _thing_?

"Wow. You grew even dorkier… and I thought that wasn't possible!" she scoffed, smiling in a teasing manner.

Justin creased his eyebrows in annoyance. "Hi Alex."

_And there, they were already hating each other's presence. _

Alex waved him off non-chalantly and sat down on the couch again, plopping her legs on the table. Yawning theatrically to show him how bored he made her, she began her announcements. "Rule one. The remote stays with me whenever I want to watch TV."

"I don't watch TV." Justin replied quickly. "I read books."

Alex smirked and looked at her mother. "See mom, reading too much books spoils your eye-sight. And you always say my eyes should stay unharmed. Don't you think you should thank me for not studying?"

Theresa placed her hands on her hips and glared at her daughter.

"Rule No. 2." Alex returned her attention to her brother before her mother could start lecturing her. "Don't touch my ipod… now tell me you don't listen to music!"

Justin scoffed. "I do listen to music. But on my laptop."

Alex turned to her mother and pouted. "When will I get a laptop?"

"As soon as you get an A like your brother." her mother shot back.

Alex sighed and turned towards Justin again.

"You can use my laptop if you want." Justin offered sweetly.

_So one day he suddenly pops up into her life and decides to be her older brother! _Where was he when she was being taunted by Gigi at pre-school? Where was he when she was ditching classes at school and neglecting her studies? Where was he when she had her first break off and was all alone, crying? 

"No thanks." Alex replied, smiling bitterly. "Mom asked me not to take things from strangers. Anyway, rule 3. Stay away from me. I don't wanna see your face."

Justin snorted_. That 'I-am-a-perfect-boy' thing can snort?_ "That's been our rule 1 for years. You don't need to repeat that."

Alex shrugged. "Okay, you can go now."

"Alex!" Theresa cried, "You met your brother after such a long time! At least give him a hug!"

"What!" Alex shrieked. "You didn't make Max hug! This is totally unfair!"

Theresa glared at her. "Alex. He's your brother...You don't have to do the dishes for a week."

Alex whined and went to Justin's arms, wrapping her arms around his shoulder, scrunching up her nose in disgust. Justin just stood still, unsure what he should do.

_Yeah, this is awkward._

"Hug her back!" Theresa cried.

"I…" Justin stuttered nervously, "I have never hugged a girl before…"

Alex shook her head in disbelief. _How old was he again?_ She felt a bit bad for her brother. _Poor him. Books took away all the fun from his life_.

Seizing this opportunity, she quickly pulled back. "Yeah that'll do. I'm off now guys. Peace."

Theresa grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Ah, not so fast! Show your brother his room." Before Alex could protest, she added. "No dishes for a week."

Alex whined and sighed. "Come on Justin, come to your room."

Justin picked up his luggage from the front door, following her up the stairs.

She threw the door to his room open and turned on the lights quickly. "Okay, here's your room. Have fun. Bye."

"No wait." Justin called out, causing her to stop. _That thing wanted to talk to her? Really? _

Alex cursed under her breath and turned around, trying her best to keep the irritation limited to her face and voice and trying not to think about turning him into a TV with a mute button. "What?"

"Where's your room?" Justin asked softly.

"The next one." Alex replied as panic set in her mind. _Was he going to ask for a tour of her room? NO! That thing could not be allowed into her room! _

Justin nodded and sighed. "Listen Alex, I have been reading articles on how siblings should behave-"

Alex snickered. "You read self- help books?"

"Yeah?" Justin asked in confusion. "I bought dad some parenting books too, but he doesn't read them…. Anyways, _as I was saying_, one of those articles said that brothers and sisters should be mutually respectful to each other."

Alex shook her head seriously. "Whoever wrote that book didn't have a sibling."

Justin's brows creased up in confusion. "Why?"

Alex placed an arm around his shoulder, leading him to the balcony, as he flinched at the contact. "Listen Justin, since I _really _care about you, I'll let you in about how to treat your sister. Rule 1. Do whatever she asks you to do. Rule 2. Never scold her. Rule 3. Protect her from your parents. Rule 4. Take her blame to save her. Rule 5. Give her all your allowance-"

"-Okay, those are not rules." He cut her off, yanking away from her grasp. "You just made them up!"

"How do you know that?" Alex snapped.

"Because the other article said that sisters can be manipulating and cunning." Justin snapped back.

"Okay, so maybe _that_ guy had a sister." Alex mumbled, frowning.

Justin sighed, growing tired of the fight. _He wasn't used to fighting with a sibling. _"What I was saying is, I think we need to talk and sort things out between us."

"Wow. After 13 years, you suddenly want your sister back, huh?" Alex gave him a cold glare.

"Alex…" Justin whispered softly.

Alex held up a finger and silenced him. "You never cared all these years. You didn't even talk to me properly! I can't let you into my life now!"

"Give me a chance." Justin said calmly, shutting her up. "I think we should talk to each other and try to mend this … _relation_… **please**."

Alex looked up at him. She had never observed him this closely before. His eyes were still the same as they were when they were kids- _deep, gray, beautiful_, _kind_, but his blunt nose had become sharp somehow. His muscles were, surprisingly for a nerd like him, well-toned, his hair a bit messy as the gel started to wear off… Could she ever catch up to 14 years of happenings?

"Why do you even want to mend this relation?" she asked, her voice shaking with uncertainty. "Why now?"

Justin sighed. "It's a long story… I'll tell you tonight after dinner, okay?"

"Fine." She sighed, finally giving in. "Meet me at the terrace after dinner."

"Thanks Alex." Justin smiled, extending his hand to her for a handshake.

She rolled her eyes, taking his hand and shaking it. A small smile appeared on her face as she saw his grin. _Okay, so maybe this handshaking thing was not so lame, maybe it was kind of sort of cute?_

"Get some rest." She whispered, walking out of the room.

She went to her own room and slumped down on her bed, trying to think over everything.

_How could his genuine smile win over a part of her hatred? Was she really going to give him a chance? What reason did he have for wanting her back? _

She closed her eyes and tipped back her head. Why did Justin have this power to make her weak? Why did a part of her still care about him?

Last month, when she had tripped on the stairs and was about to fall down, she had instinctively called out his name. But he wasn't there for her; he wasn't there to catch her from falling. She had to grab the railing and balance herself. 

He was never there for her, _never. _She had to take care of herself. Why should she let him into her life then? 

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(A/N: that's the first chapter. PLEASE tell me if you like this! Things will get emotional from the next chapter, I promise, I'll make it as good as 'Dollhouse'. Do you like this theme/story idea? **I know the first paragraph doesn't make sense now, but when I will write the sequel, it will**. The ending to this fic will be a COMPLETE shock. This is an AU, but I will keep Alex, Justin, Max, Theresa, etc. completely in character. I will change Justin's looks a bit to make him more realistic as a nerd, well, in the first few chapters ;) …. Please review! I love to hear from you and respond to you!)


	3. Ch 2: Give me a chance

(A/N: time to make things emotional and meaningful again, that's why I'm changing my writing style for this fic.)

Disclaimer: don't own it.

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Chapter 2: one chance

**Dear you, **

**The first time we talked, we must have noticed sparks fly. **

**We must have talked about fairytales, about the Sleeping Beauty and her Prince Charming. I must have understood that you have come to me to wake me up from my eternal sleep, to liberate me from my eternal wait... **

**We must have looked at the night sky and talked to the stars and the moon. I must have looked into your eyes and noticed a magical glow in them…**

**13. 07. **

**

* * *

**

She climbed down the stairs for dinner, and her limbs froze when she saw him sitting in the chair in front of her destined seat. She had been so used to dining with two family members that the presence of a third one felt so... _strange._

She sat on her chair quietly and picked up her fork with her shaking hand, hoping her family wouldn't notice how unusually quiet she was being. Fortunately, they were too busy talking to Justin.

She stabbed her meat with her fork, taking out her anger on Justin, and stuffed it into her mouth, her eyes rolling as her ears paid attention to Justin's voice, narrating some boring story written by some old dude to Max. _She never liked studying about French revolution anyway. _

And when Justin shot a nervous glance at her direction and their eyes met, she choked herself with her food. _He never looked at her, NEVER, when did he start acknowledging her presence? _She coughed and spit out the food on a tissue, and he was the first one to hold up a glass of water in her direction.

She grabbed the glass from his hand, a jolt of electricity shooting through her body when their fingers met. But the very next moment, a jolt of anger shot through her- _he was never there to help her out for the past thirteen years._

She kept the water within her mouth for a good five minutes, hoping her anger would dissuade- a technique she had learnt from a website. When that didn't help, she excused herself and climbed up the stairs.

She wanted to go to her room and lock them all away, to lock all the thoughts and feelings away, but it felt like her legs had a mind of their own- they carried her to the terrace. She found herself standing at the side of her terrace, leaning over the railing, looking at the bright lights and colors of the city. She looked at a big banner hanging from the wall of a tall building, and her mind read the letters of a certain word over and over again, as if that was the most amusing thing. _F. a. m. i. l. y. F. a. m. i. l. y. F. a. m. i. l. y…_

She could hear the honking of New York traffic, and see people walking happily. Her eyes caught sight of two little kids- a brother and a sister sharing an ice-cream. And before she even realized it, two tiny tear-drops shot from her eyes.

"Don't cry" came Justin's concerned voice. A startled Alex turned around to find him standing awkwardly, two feet away from her, fidgeting with his hands, his eyes fixed on the ground, breathing irregularly. "Please don't cry." He repeated again.

_How in the world did he know she was crying?_

She wiped the offending teardrops with her hands a little too harshly-_he never wiped her tears for her,_ and took in a deep breath, trying to stop her sniffles. He held up his handkerchief in her direction, and by instinct, she reached for it and blew her nose into it.

She went to return it back to him, when she noticed that it was ruined, dirty, and he wouldn't touch it. "Sorry for ruining your handkerchief, I'll buy you a new one." She mumbled softly, her voice still cracking with tears.

He shook his head, never looking up from the ground, the glass of his spectacles reflecting the bright street light. "W-w-why are you crying?" he asked hesitantly, his voice shaky and uncertain.

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand, turning around and away from him. _He wasn't her brother, he couldn't tell why she was crying just by looking at her, he didn't care, and she now wouldn't let him. _

Her ears picked up the sound of foot-steps and she turned around to find Justin standing behind her, staring at her in confusion. Her natural instinct was to move backwards, but her back touched the cold iron railing.

She raised an eyebrow, questioningly him silently.

"D-did I do something wrong?" he asked hesitantly again, in a soft, low voice that was almost buried by the sound of a lively New York.

She let out a small laugh. _Gosh, everything was wrong. _

His eyebrows narrowed together, his confusion increasing. "I… I am sorry… for whatever I did to hurt you…"

She shook her head, not seeing any point in having the conversation with him. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked instead.

He stirred a bit; startled by the sudden change of topic- _his conversation skills weren't that good AT ALL, did he even talk to people? _"I…I..." he stuttered nervously.

She almost, _almost_ wanted to lean forward a put an assuring hand on his shoulder. But she couldn't- _they never cared for each other. _

"I want my sister back." He blurted out nervously, his eyes darting left and right, carefully averting her gaze.

"You said that before." She said, unusually calmly for a short-tempered person like her. "I want to know why."

He sighed and walked to a corner of the terrace, putting his hands on the railing, tapping it in a rhythmic pattern, picking imaginary strings from it.

_Yeah, his awkwardness was definitely not showing._

_And she definitely didn't remember that he used to do this when they were kids. Of course he wasn't tall enough to reach the top of the railing back then. But she was tall enough to stand next to him and put an arm on his shoulder._

She closedher eyes tightly in her desperate attempt to fight the memory, but that only made the images clearer.

"I…I..." he began again, snapping her out of her trance, and she whined, fearful that he'd be stuck in that 'I' part for another long minute. "I miss you Alex." He said softly, as if he was confessing to a horrible crime, as if what he said was something totally unacceptable.

She scoffed, unable to believe him. "Wow. So one sudden day you realize that you miss me?"

"It wasn't one sudden day." He protested, meeting her gaze and holding it for _three seconds_, before looking down at the ground again. "It was _every day."_

"Yes, and that's why you never even talked to me." She snickered, amused by his reasoning. _And he's the smart one. _

"I…I…" he began stuttering again, and she fought the urge to bang her forehead against the wall. _Really?_ "I thought I wouldn't miss you so much if I tried to forget you..."

"And it didn't work, right?" she asked, her voice venomous, her fiery eyes glaring at him. She could see the lump in his throat as he gulped, and for a moment she _almost_ felt guilty for being so harsh.

He nodded, taking a few hesitant steps towards her. "I… I'm sorry Alex… I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Hurt me?" she asked incredulously. "What made you think that you hurt me? Like I actually care about you!" she cringed when her voice cracked a bit, but this was Justin, he wouldn't notice- he was a stranger after all.

He looked down at the ground guiltily, the fingers of his right hand intertwining with the fingers of his left one, as his own thumbs engaged in a war. "So… you won't give me a chance?"

_She just stood there, breathing in and out, in and out; in and out…did she want to give him a chance, after he hurt her so badly? _

She felt a tiny drop of liquid fall on her left foot, and after spending a minute of glancing at the sky to see if it was raining, she finally realized that he was crying.

"Justin…" she began, her hand going up to wipe his tears, but freezing in mid-air when she realized she couldn't do it- _she had no right to_.

She hastily put her hand down, pursing her lips. "Fine… I will give you a chance… just, just stop crying okay?"

Something moved and something happened, and the next thing she knew, Justin was hugging her tightly. Her eyes widened, she wondered when exactly he learned to hug a girl, when exactly he gathered the courage to hug _her, _but people do tend to act this way when they are emotionally vulnerable_. _ Her eyes slowly drifted shut as she felt his hot tear-drops falling on her shoulder, slowly trailing down her skin. This was a new sensation, a new sort of comforting feeling, _and she liked it. _

She let out a small laugh, wrapping her arms around his shoulder. "Stop crying like a little girl." She teased.

"Sorry." He mumbled against her skin, still sobbing, and pulled back.

She snorted. "You're a total dork, you know that? I can't be seen going around with something like this! It'll totally ruin my reputation! Yeah, we'll need to work on how you look."

He raised an eyebrow and wiped his tears, a hint of suspicion in his eyes (_of course their mother told him about her pranks)._

"We will start with the clothes. Let's go shopping tomorrow." She said, gesturing for him to climb down the stairs. "Pink and white is so not a guy combination!"

"These are not mine." He said, much to her relief. "These are my friend Zeke's. I borrowed them because I thought they look cool…"

_And there, end of relief. So much for hoping! _

"Okay…. Goodnight then." She said as they reached their rooms.

He nodded. "Goodnight Alex…"

When she reached for her doorknob and was about to turn it, she felt a quivering hand above her own, and looked up to see Justin's nervous eyes.

"T-Thanks A-Alex…" he whispered awkwardly, before pulling back and dashing to his room in a hurry.

She stared at his closed door for a minute, trying to comprehend what was happening, and then brought her hand in front of her face, staring at it with wide eyes, wondering why it was trembling.

When she entered her room and changed into her pajamas, ready to hit the bed, she found herself standing in front of the wall that separated her room from Justin, and she wondered what _that_ meant. She looked at the mirror, and sat down in front of her dresser, her hands playing with her lip gloss absent-mindedly, as she studied her face for any sort of _sign. _She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she knew that when she would see it, she would know that was it.

When she woke up in the middle of the night, she found herself facing the wall again. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment, as her mind thought over the day's happenings. _There was something right in front of her eyes, something huge, something really important, but somehow she was unable to notice it…_She closed her eyes, ignoring the strange feeling in her chest (_when did Alex Russo pay attention to feelings?)_, once again drifting off into peaceful dreams of _pink, spectacles, guillotine and stuttering._..

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(A/N: Am I able to live up to your expectations? This chapter took a bit of effort, because I needed to make their awkwardness show, but well, it's finally up. I decided to change my writing style a bit, because it needs to be serious and meaningful, and I need to pay attention to details. Do you like this style? Do you like this chapter? **Please review**! This is probably my last update in June, but the more the reviews, the faster the update in July ;))

**Note**: I won't be using any song for this fic. Instead, every chapter would have those first paragraphs that don't make nay sense now :P


	4. Ch 3: That's how it all began

Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP.

**Chapter 3: that's how it all began**

**The first time we fought, our hearts must have been torn to pieces; our eyes must have been bleeding with tears. We must have spent the night waiting for a shooting star, praying that everything would be all right again… **

**I must have been waiting impatiently for the veil of night to be lifted and for day to arrive, so that I could run into your arms and tell you how sorry I am, and you could swing me around in your arms and tell me it would be okay… **

**The first time we fought, our love must have gotten strong. **

**14. 07. **

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The next morning, her mother had to drag her out of bed, and she spent the entire breakfast being grumpy, grumbling and groaning, while Justin kept glancing at her with that scared look in his eyes. (_Yes, she knows she is scary when she is being grouchy, thank you.) _

After that, she got into a quarrel with her mother about 'I want to go shopping for Justin' versus 'Justin will begin his tutoring sessions now.' In the end, her mother won, thanks to threats of grounding and allurements of one week free from dish-washing.

And that's how it all began….

* * *

"All right, let's begin then." Justin announced, gathering her books and placing them neatly on the study table.

"What's the hurry?" Alex asked non-chalantly, as she checked her phone for the tenth time in a minute.

Justin frowned as he caught sight of it. "Alex, put your phone away." He ordered sternly.

She scoffed, not paying any heed to his command.

"Alex." Justin warned in a serious tone.

Alex felt a cold, chilling sensation run down her spine. That was the tone he had used all his life. That dead serious tone, that annoyed, irritated tone, with a bit of superior attitude throw in. That was the Justin she knew. That was the Justin she had grown up hating.

_Of course_. Why would she think he'd change all of a sudden? Stupid! Stupid Alex! Why did she believe what he said last night?

"Umm… sorry dude, but I like to keep my cell phone with me while studying." She shot back, standing up and crossing her arms in front of her in a challenging gesture.

"Explains your grades." He snarled back, before fixing her with a cold glare. "Now hand it over to me."

She raised her eyebrows and gave him a 'are-you-kidding-me' look.

"There are certain methods of studying." He explained. "If you keep checking your texts, you'd never be able to concentrate."

She shrugged. "I don't want to concentrate."

"You have to concentrate!" Justin said in exasperation. (_Why was she so damn difficult?) _"And you have to listen to me! I am your tutor! Not to mention your older brother as well."

"Older brother?" Alex let out a small, hysterical laugh, and Justin's heart stood still in his chest. "You are nothing to me, Justin..." Alex announced coldly, turning back, ready to walk out.

Justin grabbed her arm to stop her. "Alex, I-" he began.

"-Shut up!" She yelled, yanking his arm from his grasp and storming upstairs into her room.

* * *

After listening to screaming music for ten minutes, her anger finally began to cool down. Okay, so maybe she had over-reacted. Maybe she shouldn't have behaved that way?

_But it was his fault. Why did he always have to act that way? It was his fault, not hers!_

Ten more minutes later, a bit of guilt and longing and regret was settling in the pit of her stomach. If she didn't act that way, she wouldn't have destroyed everything before it even began. Maybe she would have got her older brother back if she didn't act that way?

_No, she didn't want her older brother back. Nope. She didn't care. She wouldn't. _

Ten more minutes later, her legs were itching to walk over to Justin's room and talk to him.

_No, she couldn't. She couldn't swallow her pride like that! He'd take it as a sign of her defeat. And maybe he would start fighting with her again. _

Ten more minutes later, she swung the door to this room open. (_Knocking? Not happening this lifetime.)_

"Justin, I-"

And he wasn't there.

_Okaaay…._

"Hey Max, umm, where's Justin?" she asked her younger brother.

"Nope. I didn't touch your journal, Alex. I swear!" Max panicked, jumping up in his bed.

Alex blinked a few times, and then her eyes grew wide with anger. "You touched my journal?"

"No, Alex, let me explain." Max begged, carefully shielding himself with his pillow. "I was just looking for a recipe of marshmallow for my marshmallow surprise, and I needed a new piece of tape for that, and a unicorn horn…"

Max continued, but Alex shook her head, not following any thing, not caring either. "Ugh, you know what? Forget that! Just tell me where Justin is."

"Justin?" Max asked, thinking. Alex formed her hand into a fist. _If that kid didn't remember, he was so going to pay for making let listen to his gibberish talk. _

"He went shopping." Max finally completely.

"Oh." She muttered, after a few seconds.

* * *

When she walked back to her room and sank to her bed, her heart sank to the floor. He went shopping without her. She ruined it all for herself.

_Pssh. She saved herself. She didn't want to go shopping with that dork! _

Ugh! Why do we all feel horrible when we are trying our hardest to convince ourselves that we are alright, that we don't care?

She finally gave up trying. Fine. She cared. She cared about Justin. She was feeling horrible. _Happy now? _

She wiped the teardrops from the corner of her eyes. Nope, she wouldn't cry for him.

* * *

Two hours later, there was a knock of her door. She got up, groaning, and praying that it wasn't her mother, and that Justin didn't tell her about their quarrel.

She opened her door to find-

_No one…_ _okaayy..._

She looked around, and below into the ground, and finally noticed a small box placed near her doorframe. She bent down and picked it up, surprised to see such a beautiful gift-wrapping. Her heart started skipping beats, as she thought about the possibility. Was this from… him?

She turned the box around, and saw a small note stuck to it.

"_Sorry."_

Her eyes lit up and a smile tugged on her lips. She climbed down the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

"Alex! Stop skipping steps! You will fall down some day!" Her mother scolded. Justin, sitting beside their mother, stirred up, glancing at her nervously.

"Wow. Look who's being nervous!" she said in a playful tone, glancing at his clothes. _(Ok, so he went shopping for her, not for himself. Fine.) _ "I thought you grew a backbone when you started tutoring me."

He smiled nervously. "I am confident when I am teaching…"

"Perfect sign of a nerd." She said, smiling back. "Thanks Justin."

"You forgive me?" he asked hopefully.

"Yupe." She replied, before joining him on the couch. _What? She wasn't going to apologize to him! Nope. Not happening in this lifetime. _

* * *

By the afternoon, the awkwardness was fading, and they were acting like they had known each other their entire lives. Maybe that's the power of blood relations?

* * *

In the evening, she spent one hour convincing him to install a game into his laptop.

"_Alex, I don't play games."_

"_I do."_

"_You can play in your PC!"_

"_But you said I could use your laptop!"_

"_For listening to music!" _

"_That's what my ipod is for!"_

"_Well then, you don't need my laptop I guess."_

"_Yes I do! I need to play that game!"_

"_Alex."_

"_Are you scared that I'd totally beat you?"_

"_What! You can't beat me. Pfft."_

"_Really? Why don't we test it then?"_

"_Okay."_

"_Okay."_

"_Fine!"_

"_Fine." _

"_Huh… Thank you Justin."_

That sneaky devil was smiling deviously. _Ha,_ _the queen of manipulations won again! _

* * *

And she spent the entire evening distracting him to enter the cheat codes and then beating him, fighting with him, laughing and enjoying.

Their mother had to drag them both to dinner, and they continued their word-war throughout dinner.

* * *

At night, she was sitting at the dresser, doing her hair into a ponytail. She popped 2 chocolates into her mouth, trying not to notice that these were all heart shaped_. That dork probably didn't even know what that meant. Or he had done this intentionally to mess with her feelings. _

Wait…. What?

…._Feelings?_

And finally she understood. Just around one day of living with Justin, and she was already to start for him.

_Pssh. Nope. She couldn't like Justin. He was a dork. _

And he looked so cute when he grinned smugly.

_No. She hated him all her life. _

And she hated fighting with him today.

_He's her brother! _

A brother that she never knew as a brother….

_No. _She_ wasn't falling for Justin! _

_

* * *

_

And that's how it all began….

The battle of feelings had begun. The conflict of love and hate had started. And there was _not a thing _that she could do about it.

Alex closed her eyes, drifting into sleep and dreams, deciding to stay in denial for as long as she could.

* * *

(A/N: yupe, I updated. School began today, and I think I can manage both studies and writing. =) Who's happy? I am! It's impossible to stay away from this life… anyways, I left a tiny little clue of this fan fiction's theme in a line, and a clue to its ending at another, but I'm sure you wont be able to pick it now :P Tell me if you like this chapter. **More reviews= faster update.**)


	5. Ch 4: The end?

(IMPORTANT: this will be a long chapter, as this is the last chapter. I want to finish this quickly and get into the sequel. I am sorry if this appears rushed and forced, but I don't feel the need to make this unnecessarily long; you just need the basic idea of the setup for the sequel. Since these are in-character characters, you don't need detailed falling in love thing. Plus, I can obviously tell this is bad writing. I am not at all pleased with how I wrote this story. I thought I could do better, but *shrug* I plan to bounce back with the sequel. Check it out after you finish reading this. It's titled 'Once again')

**

* * *

**

**Dear you**

**I must have fallen in love with the romance novels the day you came into my life. I must have devoured pages and pages of it, to read about all the love there is in this world. And in the end, I must have realized that my love for you is no less than any of these…**

**You must have watched me read those books; your soft, shining eyes focused on my love struck face. You must have paid attention to my reading, relishing the sound of my sweet voice ringing in your ears. Your lips must have curved upwards into a proud smile when you realized that your princess is no less than a Juliet… **

**-15. 07 **

* * *

"Shopping."

"Studying."

"Shopping."

"Studying."

"Umm, guys?" Theresa interrupted, getting up from the couch in the living room, "I hate to break it to you, but you two have been stuck on that part for the last ten minutes."

Alex snorted. _Like she didn't notice that!_

"Why don't you decide for us then, mom?" Justin offered, smiling sweetly.

Alex resisted the urge to **smack **him right in his face. _Really? He had to ask their mother? Of all people? _

"Fine! I'll go study!" Alex yelled, not even waiting for her mother to say the words out loud, and started storming up the stairs to her room, taking three steps at a time.

"Alex! Stop skipping steps! It's dangerous!" Justin yelled behind her, running up the steps as well.

She shrugged, walking into his room and settling down on his bed. "I like danger."

"Don't you care about your life?" he asked in confusion.

"We were talking about skipping steps, not death. Gosh." She rolled her eyes, annoyed at his antics. _As if studying wasn't enough of torture for her, and now she had to listen to him lecture hear about how precious life is and blab la bla. _

"You may fall down someday." He explained.

She shrugged. "I was about to fall down last month, but I didn't."

"I'll catch you." He said suddenly.

"W-what?" she stuttered, caught off guard. _Ugh, is this the part where you are suffered to get butterflies in your stomach? That doesn't even make sense! How the heck is she supposed to know what ever that means? _

He gulped, suddenly having the urge to say it again, as well as the fear of the consequences. "I will catch you if you fall." He said again.

She looked down at the ground. "You were never there to catch me when I fell…"

He took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I am here now, Alex…"

She looked at his face, a soft smile appearing on her lips as she got lost in his hazel eyes….

* * *

28 days, 9 hours, 15 minutes, 12 seconds passed like this, lost in his eyes, lost in his smile, lost in his arms, lost in every moment she shared with him… lost in love, lost in denial…

The wind and the rain were rattling her windows, the occasional sound of thunderstorm making her shudder at times. When she was a little kid, she had always been scared of the thunderstorm. She would hide in her bed, covering her head with the sheets, as if that would shield her from thunder-monster. She didn't want to go to her mother. No… she wanted to go to Justin. But he wasn't there, and she could never hide in his arms. That's how she learnt to thrive on her own, that's how she learnt not to be scared of thunderstorms.

So, at 28 days, 9 hours, 16 minutes, 17 seconds of being in love with Justin, she was lying in her bed in her room, wondering if she should go to him, just to get a taste of how it would have felt to seek protection from him.

"Alex." He said, walking into her room quickly, closing the door behind him, and slumping down on the bed. "Hey."

She raised an eyebrow, studying his face properly. "What are you doing here?" she asked skeptically.

He smiled sheepishly, rolling down the sleeves of his blue shirt. "I… I just came here to... to…"

And at the sound of the thunder, he buried his face in her pillow and screamed.

When she looked back up, he saw her staring at him with wide eyes.

"What?" He huffed indignantly.

She grinned. "You are scared of the thunderstorm? Really?"

_Who would have thought it would be the other way around?_

He glared at her, and then sighed, his eyes softening. He rolled on his way, putting an arm around her shoulder, and pulling her close to him. She snuggled into his chest, taking in the familiar warmth of his skin.

"I have been scared of the thunderstorm ever since I was a kid." He began, his voice low, soft and resentful. "When I was a kid, I always wanted to go and hide in mom's arms… but mom wasn't there for me… mom was with you…I… I was really jealous of you, Alex… to be honest, I hated you. I always thought you took my mom away from you… I hated you so much…"

She pulled back and gazed deeply into his eyes. "Do you hate me now?"

He shook his head immediately. "No. Not a bit… you are great Alex. You are such an important part of my life. I can't believe I will have to leave you again."

She wasn't sure if that was the sound of the thunderstorm, or the sound of her heart breaking, but a loud devastating sound echoed in her ears, finally pulling her away from her world of fantasy.

Justin was living the next day. He was going home again, leaving her behind. She would be all alone once again, even if they did keep in touch this time- physical presence and contact through wireless medium are never the same.

AND she still couldn't figure out how he felt. Did he like her the way she liked him? She was starting to pick up hints, with the way he looked at her, the way he held her in his arms, the way he talked to her- those weren't brotherly, right?

It was still strange how she, Alex Russo, fell in love in 30 days. But she did. And now she was leaving. And she couldn't stop him. She couldn't ask him how he felt- there was the whole brother thing, the fear that everything would go downhill if he wasn't interested in her sinful intentions.

She kept quiet instead, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Please don't leave me Justin." She whispered softly, the tears flowing from her eyes.

"I am sorry Alex." He whispered, hugging her back tightly, "_**I will never forget you, Alex. I promise. I will come back for you." **_

"_**Promise?" **_she whispered in a timid voice.

"_**Promise." **_He whispered back firmly, with such a passion in his voice that she had never heard before.

She nodded- she believed him._** "I will wait for you Justin." **_

* * *

She stood at the terrace, looking up at the sky, the tears never failing to flow from her eyes. Justin was gone… she was all alone again.

"ALEX!" her mother's scream came from downstairs, and her heart jumped in her chest in panic. "GET DOWN HERE QUICKLY!"

She held her breath, wiping her tears quickly and running down the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

"_I hate you Justin!" "Shut up!" "I am your brother!" "Leave me alone!" "Please give me a chance." "I am sorry." "Fine." "You are really important to me." "I will never forget you Alex, I promise."_

The thoughts reigned her mind, her mind not focusing at her steps AT ALL. And it all happened quickly after that.

A slip of feet… stumbling down the stairs…. Her hand full of blood flowing from the back of the head…. Her mother's scream… the sound of an ambulance horn…

She took in deep desperate breaths, trying desperately to keep her eyes open.

"_I will never forget you Alex, I promise."_

Her eyes closed for the last time….. _And the world blurred._

_

* * *

_(A/N: yup, tragic ending. :( sorry. Please review and tell me if you like this. Now read the sequel, I am confident that I can capture your attention from the beginning.)


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